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Nicklas Backstrom -- Backstrom signed a three-year contract this spring after three strong seasons with Brynas in the Swedish Elite League. Backstrom had 12 goals and 28 assists in 45 Brynas' games this season to lead his team in scoring for the second-straight season. Backstrom was the SEL's rookie of the year in 2005-06 and an All-Star. He has represented Sweden in two World Championships and two World Junior Championships.

"We felt that he was capable of playing in the NHL this (past) year," GM George McPhee said. "He felt he wanted another year to develop and get stronger. He played in the World Junior tournament, gained more experience, and then played in the World Championship. We felt that wouldn't hurt him. He continued to develop at a nice pace and will be more prepared when he comes to us. He's an average skater, but he has terrific hockey sense and hands. He has excellent playmaking ability."

Chris Bourque --Ray Bourque's son is writing his own story with a 22-point improvement over his rookie AHL season. Bourque has gotten much heavier and quite a bit stronger. He's a powerful skater and an excellent puckhandler and finished plus-16 in the regular season.

"Chris is really playing well right now. I was watching him during the playoffs," McPhee said. "He's doing a lot of good things and he's been very productive offensively. He runs the point on the power play. His confidence has never been better. We're looking at this year as his first year of professional hockey. He was young last year and it didn't hurt him. For a 20-year-old in the American Hockey League, that was pretty darn good. We expect next year will be the year he starts getting games in the NHL. How many is up to him."

David Steckel -- Steckel played four years at Ohio State and a year with the Kings' AHL team in Manchester. He signed with the Capitals two years ago and since then led the Hershey Bears to the 2006 Calder Cup and the 2007 Calder Cup finals. He was second on the Bears with a plus-28 rating.

"David could be a very good penalty killer for us next year," McPhee said. "He had another strong season in Hershey. David has a real knack for killing penalties, and he scored 30 goals this year. If you use a rookie for killing penalties, he must be a pretty smart player. I say if he's capable and doing it right now, throw him out there. It's not that big a step. He's been doing it for a couple of years in the AHL and will be well prepared."

Right wingers

Francois Bouchard, who the Capitals drafted in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, led his junior team in scoring last season.
Francois Bouchard -- Bouchard combined his shooting prowess with 10-plus pounds of muscle and a focused work ethic for Baie Comeau in the Quebec League. A good showing at training camp last year infused Bouchard with a strong commitment. He was named to the Second All-Star team. Bouchard was plus-21 and had 15 power-play goals.

"Francois had a good interview last year and he just had a great year on the ice, leading his junior team in scoring," McPhee said. "He wasn't in our camp long last year, but he was really good. He'll get a longer look this year. We think we made a good pick. At this point, he's an average skater with terrific hockey sense. He has great awareness and protects the puck. He anticipates well because he is a smart player. He needs to work on his defense."

Andrew Gordon -- Gordon has had his eye on the NHL for a long time and passed up his senior year, and the alternate captaincy, at St. Cloud State to sign with the Capitals this spring. He led the Huskies in goals the past two seasons. Gordon ranked second overall in team scoring this year and was named to the All-WCHA First All-Star team.

"Andrew is a young man to keep an eye on," McPhee said. "He's a top scorer out of college who left school although he has a year left. He turned professional at the end of his junior year and we sent him to Hershey to be with the team during the Calder Cup playoffs. He has a really good chance to play with us next season. Andrew is a smart player who with good hands and he's really strong on the puck."

Defensemen
Joe Finley -- Finley is 6-foot-7 and he can skate. He's a very powerful man with a long reach and good positioning. Opponents are intimidated when they see Finley waiting for them at the blue line and often prefer to dump the puck in behind him. Finley played an important role, defensive defenseman, in helping the Fighting Sioux to the NCAA championship.

"Joe made a lot of progress this season. He got more minutes and played in more situations," McPhee said. "He skates very well for a big man and he seems to be gaining in confidence. The increased ice time indicates that he's more trusted by the coaching staff. He's also learning to step up and have a tighter gap between the defense and the forwards. He's got some way to go, but he's improving the way we want to see."

Patrick McNeill -- McNeill's idol is Scott Niedermayer. He had former Chicago Blackhawks star Pat Stapleton for a youth-hockey coach and was coached in juniors by Doug Lidster, so it's no surprise that McNeill is a good skating, fine puck-handling defenseman with good on-ice awareness.

"We signed him in May and brought him up to Hershey for the playoffs," McPhee said. "He's a mobile defenseman that brings options designed for the new game. We have a lot of younger players, with different kinds of skills, and Patrick has had success as an offensive defenseman. He could be a power-play quarterback of the future."

Goalies
Michal Neuvirth -- Neuvirth, the former Sparta Praha junior goaltender, had an outstanding rookie OHL season, leading his team to the OHL championship and into the Memorial Cup. He went 14-3-1 with a .932 save percentage in the OHL playoffs. Neuvirth led the OHL in goals-against average and save percentage and was named to the OHL's All-Star Second Team. Neuvirth was OHL Goaltender of the Month in January and puckstopper of the week in April. A butterfly goalie with quick reflexes and a good glove, Neuvirth is credited with an even disposition and an ability to handle pressure.

"Neuvirth is one of those guys who know how to play. He had a terrific year," McPhee said. "Michal is very quick and it's tough to beat him low. A lot of teams found out how to beat him high so that's something he has to work on."

Semen Varlamov -- Taken with the 23rd overall pick in the 2006 draft, Semen Varlamov was a standout at the World Junior Championship, going 5-1 with a loss to Canada in the gold medal game. That's pretty heady work for a goalie also eligible for Russia's Under-18 team. Varlamov was also named the MVP at the Under-18 Four Nations Tournament in Mytische, Russia.

"He's done very well. We're really happy with both goaltenders, Neuvirth too," McPhee said. "Both had very good years. Varlamov is very athletic, very quick, but he has an unstructured game, like most young goalies. He played against men this year and it was a very good experience for him.

The Hershey Bears thread

First Period

Hershey Bears have already established that they are not going to be afraid to throw some punches this season. Just :21 into the game, both Justin Sawyer and Tyson Marsh stir up fights and head to the box.

At the 1:26 mark of the first period, Michael Dubuc put the Bears on top, with assists from Francois Bouchard and Kyle Wilson.

Sasha Pokaluk gets called for interfence at 13:38. Then upon returning from the box, hits the post.

Viktor Dovgan has made a very physical presence throwing his weight around with a couple of hits.

Bears lead 1-0 after the first period.

Game Note: Bruce Boudreau is in attendance as his son Ben is suited up for the Bears.

Well, the connection was lost to the Bears feed, and when it returned, the Bears were losing 2-1. Onto the power play. Ben Boudreau scores on the power play as he beats the goalie with a wrist shot from the right circle. Boudreau's goal came at 4:58 of the middle frame.

Michal Neuvirth comes out making 15 of 17 saves. He is replaced by Bobby Goepfert.

Francois Bouchard finds the back of the net at 8:53 remaining in the 2nd period on the Power Play. Picking up the assists are Patrick McNeil and Kyle Wilson.

Bears head to the locker room with a 3-2 lead after two periods of play.

Admirals start off the 3rd period, just like they did the second, scoring a goal in the first minute to tie the game up at 3-3.

Dubuc scores his second of the game giving the Bears a 4-3 lead at 5:44 of the third period. Assisting on the goal were Wilson & Bouchard.

The Ohio State University product Sean Collins puts the Bears up 5-3 on a one-timer from the left circle. Keith Johnson & Colin Nicholson assist on the power play score.10:53

Norfolk scores a power play goal with 3:23 to play.

As the voice of the Bears John Walton says, Good morning, good afternoon & good night Norfolk. Bears look good with just a few players that will actually be on the team playing in the preseason opener. Bears next preseason game is on Friday night.

If you guys would like to listen to any Hershey Bears broadcasts, you can go to www.sportsjuice.com. Official attendance for Hershey's first preseason game is 4,301

HERSHEY 5, NORFOLK 4
Rookies Michael Dubuc and Francois Bouchard combined for three goals and five points as the Hershey Bears opened their 2008 preseason slate with a 5-4 home-ice victory over Norfolk on Sunday afternoon at the Giant Center.

Sean Collins and Ben Boudreau also scored for the Bears, who will play a home-and-home set against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next weekend.

Dubac put the Bears on top with a power play goal just 1:26 into the contest and scored again at 5:44 of the third period to break a 3-3 tie.

Bouchard assisted on both of Dubac’s markers and tallied a power play goal of his own at 11:07 of the second period. The 20-year-old Bouchard was drafted in the second round by the parent Washington Capitals in 2006 and made his professional debut for Hershey late last season.

All told, Hershey scored four of its five goals on the power play and finished 4-for-6 with the man advantage.

Bears goaltenders Michal Neuvirth and Bobby Goepfert combined to stop 24 of 28 shots on the afternoon, and each netminder allowed a pair goals.

Daryl Boyle, Mathieu Curadeau, Justin Keller, and Jason Beckett scored for the Admirals, who fell to 0-2-0-0 in the preseason.

The goaltending tandem of Craig Kowalski and Nick Boucher stopped 25 of 30 shots for Norfolk.

I listened to this game online and it was good to hear them playing well. I am really excited for the Caps and the Bears this season. Also it is cool that Bruce's son scored. Maybe he can suit up playing for his dad some day.

BEARS ASSIGN 10 PLAYERS TO MINOR LEAGUE CAMP
09/29/2008 - HERSHEY – The HERSHEY BEARS announced today that the club has assigned 10 players to various minor league camps following Sunday's 5-4 preseason win over Norfolk. The announcement was made today by BEARS President/GM Doug Yingst.

Is it because he is in the same shape as his father is now? lol. Bruce needs to cut the donuts a bit. I love the guy, but my dad was shocked at how he looks now compared to how he looked in his playing days. I have seen pictures pretty redicolous

Sorry for the delay, I was working last night and didn't get home until 2 am.

Bears Rout Baby Pen's in Preseason Action

From HersheyBears.com

The final preseason tune-up for the BEARS turned into a rout at GIANT Center Saturday night, as HERSHEY blasted Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Saturday 8-2.

HERSHEY jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first period when Andrew Gordon and Patrick McNeill scored at the 10:27 and 11:51 mark respectively. With the shots near even for both sides, special teams proved to be the difference in the first 20 minutes. Bears fans far and wide have been anticipating what Graham Mink, Keith Aucoin and Alexandre Giroux would do on the same line on a power play. They certainly got a nice sneak preview Saturday night, as the trio hooked up for a pretty power play goal at 14:08 of the first. The goal hoisted the BEARS to a 3-0 lead after one.

The second period featured more of the same with Giroux scoring his second of the game at 6:55 to give the BEARS a 4-0 lead. Josh Godfrey then turned the rest of the period into his personal highlight reel, scoring twice on two shots at from the blue line. Godfrey’s first goal came at 9:49 of the second, with his second tally coming at 19:58 just prior to the end of the period. Both slapshots got past Pens goaltender Adam Berkhoel, and HERSHEY led 6-0 after two.

Godfrey finished off his hat trick in the third period with a goal just 1:22 in. Michael Dubuc scored his third of the preseason prior to that at the 27 second mark, and the BEARS took a lopsided 8-0 lead. The Penguins would score two before the end of the contest, with Mark Letestu and Reid Cashman finding the back of the net. The two teams meet Wednesday in the regular season opener. Face-off at Wachovia Arena is at 7:05 p.m.

Notes: HERSHEY opens the regular season with a four-game road trip within the East Division, first at Wilkes-Barre Wednesday night. The trip then puts the BEARS in Norfolk against the Admirals October 10 and 11 before heading to Philadelphia on October 17. The 71st home opener in club history will be on Saturday, October 18 against the Syracuse Crunch at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available at the GIANT Center box office, or by calling (717) 534-3911.

Bears Radio Network Three Stars of the Game
1. Josh Godfrey (Hat Trick for the defenseman, all from long range)
2. Alexandre Giroux (Four points, two goals)
3. Keith Aucoin (Three